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This must be an Onion headline. Surely the Nationals won the division. That's what Mike Rizzo's binder says.

(Kind of odd that Strasburg started today despite complaining of being unable to get loose a few days ago. So when he's not injured last year he gets shut down; when he complains of something bothering him this year he... starts.)

I would expect frequent correspondents here to pay better attention to big name players. Strasburg was scratched from TWO starts. Ross Ohlendorf filled in for him on Friday the 13th at Nats Park and then Gio faced the Marlins on the 19th when they moved up his start.

So this has gone on for about 10 days. We joked that this was a kind of backdoor shutdown, but they seem to be laboring under the assumption that the Nats still have a realistic chance to make the post-season. Don't forget they also have a lot of money tied up in Strasburg's delicate arm already, so it's in their best interests to guard it from harm.

Not much to say, watching the Braves celebrate today was pretty sweet. Regardless of what happens in the playoffs (ugh), this season has been a lot of fun.

One thing that should not be overlooked is how ably Frank Wren, Roger McDowell, and Fredi Gonzalez have replaced John Schuerholz, Leo Mazzone, and Bobby Cox. Sure, maybe they aren't quite at the levels of their predecessors, but to even come close is somewhat remarkable in and of itself.

And though I know Clint Hurdle will win MoY (and deservedly so), it would be nice to see Fredi get some recognition considering all the stupid heat he's taken from Brave fans. He's managed a young, banged-up team with BJ Upton on it to 92+ wins. Nice job.

On the other hand, the Braves would probably have won the division with a dead llama playing center field and BJ Upton in the rotation. Manager of the Year needs to go to someone who was managing under pressure the whole year!

Yeah, the real story is that the Braves succeeded in spite of B.J. Upton!

Only another four and sixty to go!

The Braves had two everyday players hit .180 at around $13 million each and still won the division going away. Quite a testament to the minor league system that every time Wren throws some real money at someone, anyone it's an epic disaster...and yet they keep winning. They are doing something right.

Its not just Upton and Uggla.... Brian McCann missed over 50 games. Jason Heyward missed over 50 and only put up a .763 OPS with -2 on the bases. Even with J. Upton, their opening day OF put up a .235/.325/.398 line.

They've had awesome pitching all year though. And Terdoslavich. What a name.

They all but announced yesterday that Maholm was going to be the fourth starter during the playoffs, and I'm kind of worried about that. But, yeah, great to see them get another crack at the ol' three-round playoffs.

Yes, Heyward's easing back in - played about five innings Friday, day off Saturday, then a little more Sunday.

How are the off days in the division series, will they need a four-man there, or just three? I hope hope hope that Fredi will have a quick hook with Maholm. He's been mediocre-to-bad for the last few months. Wood's seemed more mortal after a hot start in the rotation; I'd need to check his game logs to see if he's faced any decent offenses. Still, he should be useful in the pen, given that the other relievers have come back to earth of late.

The Braves have a history of carrying a third catcher and one fewer pitcher in the postseason, but since they have Gattis that probably takes care of that. I'm inclined to think they'll still carry an extra bat (Terdoslavich) instead of Garcia, especially if they have reason to think they'll need to take it easy with Heyward.

Terdoslavich, however, hasn't hit at all lately. He's only 4 for 30 as a pinch-hitter, and he's 0 for his last 16, his last hit coming August 27. Fredi didn't even use him once as a PH in the Cubs series.

He's likely to get some PA in the coming days as the regulars rest, and I think at this point Terdo's going to have to hit a hot streak to earn his way onto the playoff roster.

I said this on another thread, but I want nothing to do with Maholm in a playoff game. He's done reasonable work since coming over from Chicago, but he is exactly the kind of guy who gives up five runs, six hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings in a postseason start and makes everyone think, "Well, that could have been worse."

If the Braves take Terdoslavich instead of a twelfth pitcher, then I hope Downs is the guy who gets the axe instead of Garcia. (Though if Walden is in the picture, he's also very axe-able.) Downs has been a nightmare. In eight September games, he's pitched two (2!) innings, and hitters have hit .625/.667/.750 against him in that stretch. Not a typo. No more Downs.

The Braves franchise played 1,292 regular-season games between division titles

That number seemed like a hyperbolic exaggeration until I logged onto BB-Ref. and discovered that the Braves' last division title was way back in 2005. It still seems almost impossible to believe, but maybe it comes from reading too many of Sam's posts.

It's odd that the Braves have so few options for players to take on the bench.

Jordan Schafer, Elliot Johnson, and Gerald Laird are givens. With E. Johnson, you don't need to take Paul Janish, but I think you'd want two backup infielders. Then you have B.J. Upton, of course, who has been awful, and Joey Terdoslavich, who has also been bad lately. Who else besides that? Reed Johnson came off the DL last week, but is still a little gimpy, is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts since returning, and wasn't very good this year anyway. There's Jose Constanza, who is terrible and completely redundant with Schafer and E. Johnson. I guess you could take him for another pinch runner, but who ever heard of taking a guy who's 0-for-3 in stolen base attempts as a pinch running specialist? I think the only other position player on the roster is fourth catcher Christian Bethancourt, who hasn't played a big league game yet.

The Braves' bench is all kinds of awful. I got outraged the other day when they didn't PH for Gerald Laird when trailing in the 9th, but sam pointed out to me that they didn't really have anyone obviously better (they had McCann, but with the pitcher's spot due up if anyone got on in the inning one presumes Fredi wanted to use him there).

I think it's likely BJ Upton will be on the bench and not starting, and he's sucked all year. Uggla may yet be on the bench. He's sucked horribly in the second half. Jordan Schafer has sucked in the second half. Terdo has sucked lately. Janish sucks. Jose Constanza sucks. Gerald Laird has struggled badly since he came off the DL.

I'm almost at the point where I'd randomly pick a few minor leaguers over some of these guys.

Yeah. The Braves have six good hitters: Freeman, McCann, Heyward, J. Upton, C. Johnson, and Gattis. One hitter who isn't very good, but his defense excuses it: Simmons. And then a bunch of flotsam: Everyone else.

CBS wasn't the only outlet to miss by buying into the Nationals hype. I suspect that a review of any preseason poll - ESPN, NBC, FOX, wherever - will have similar issues to that CBS link above. The big misses (in the NL) were simple:

1. The Nationals were oversold in the winter and spring and severely overrated nationally.
2. Absolutely nobody saw the Pirates coming.
3. Few people saw the collapse of the World Champion Giants.

I don't even thing most writers/predictors underrated the Braves, per se. I just think the National hype machine was the most overbearing we had seen since the late 1990s/early 2000s Mets version of the same.

Jason Epstein deserves some sort of prize for being the only person in any of the national media or BTF (in his case both) to even so much as mention the Pirates. (He had them in the WC play-in, then crossed them out in favor of the Giants.)

Jason Epstein deserves some sort of prize for being the only person in any of the national media or BTF (in his case both) to even so much as mention the Pirates. (He had them in the WC play-in, then crossed them out in favor of the Giants.)

Forgive me, but Devan Kovacevic had threatened to remove my appendix with a dirty spoon.

21 of ESPN's experts picked the Blue Jays to win the ALE, and none of them picked the Red Sox.

Of course I would have made it 22, but never mind about that. I'm still tied in the loss column in the only prediction that really counts.

Did any ESPN expert make a wager with you on who would have the better record between the Orioles and Yankees?

Nah, but I can tell you that two picked the O's to win the ALE while only one picked the Yanks. I think the Rays actually might have had a few more backers than the Blue Jays, but beyond that they didn't pick the rest of the order, so the Yanks, O's and Red Sox were mostly invisible on that ESPN page.

As for the fate of my bet with four different Primates, that's coming down to the wire, with the O's and the Yanks tied in the loss column going into today. I just hope that the Red Sox throw Pawtucket out onto the field over the weekend when they come down to Baltimore, since with the Yanks finishing in the Astrodome that might be the O's only hope.

At Garcia's start the other day, I looked at the scoreboard, thinking the Braves had no chance with the ancient mariner going against a guy with an era that started with 1. But then i noticed that garcia's era did as well. It came as a shock, to say the least.

I remember when the Phillies traded prospects for Freddy Garcia only to find that he was injured from Day One and utterly, completely useless. That lovable scamp Kenny Williams fooled another naive organization that just wanted someone to eat innings. Presumably Garcia's career was over, much like Mike Sirotka's turned out to be after he was traded by the White Sox. That was 7 years ago.

I still think the Tigers can blow it. I doubt their ability to win a game against Minnesota, and once it gets to Florida, who knows? Cleveland should be able to win the rest, or go no worse than 5-1.

This is a pretty obvious reverse jinx. Have you seen the lineup Minnesota is putting on the field these days? It's ridiculous. I think they could give the Astros a run for their money. They found an acorn today for which this A's fan is grateful, but that is a very bad baseball team out there.

It hadn't crossed my mind that they'd even consider Freddy Garcia for the playoff rotation.

Mine neither, honestly, until I heard it on the radio yesterday. But he's obviously the fourth, fifth, or sixth best option for the job, depending on how you rate him versus Maholm and Wood. The Cardinals hit a lot better against right handed starters, the Reds hit a little bit better against right handed starters, and the Pirates hit better against left handed starters. Perhaps the Braves will wait until they find out who they're facing before they make a decision with respect to Garcia vs. Maholm.

Because two of it's mainstays have become starters (Gattis, CJ), Pena is done for the year, and Schafer hasn't hit post-injury as well as he was prior. If not for the bench construction in the first place, they would have folded long ago.